Guide for slicing machines



Jan. 12, 1954 A. w. LUNDELL GUIDE FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed NOV. 6, 1952 I f 5 INVENTOR ,k/vam li [u/wsu 4,3 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 12, 1954 GUIDE FOR SLICING MACHINES Arnold W. Lundell, Byram, Conn., assignor to Globe Slicing Machine 00., Inc., Stamford, Conn., a corporation of New York Application November 6, 1952, Serial No. 319,008

This invention relates to guides for slicing machines in general whereby chopped or processed meat in loaf form is advanced to the knife of a slicing machine to be cut into cakes.

Among the objects of the present invention it is aimed to provide an improved guide for slicing machines such as disclosed in the copending application for patent, Ser. No. 223,631 filed April 28, 1951, which contemplates an arcuate metal shield which can be clamped into substantially cylindrical form as a mold to form a cylindrical loaf of chopped or processed meat and which can be opened to release the enclosed loaf and permit it to slide down along the same into cutting engagement with the knife of a slicing machine, which improved guide is characterized by latches which will remain interlocked with one another to facilitate closing the same after a cake has been cut and dispensed, and furthermore protect the same from being bent out of shape during use.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved guide for slicing machines such as disclosed in the copending application for patent, Ser. No. 223,631 filed April 28, 1951, which contemplates an arcuate metal shield which can be clamped into substantially cylindrical form as a mold to form a cylindrical loaf of chopped or processed meat and which can be opened to release the enclosed loaf and permit a to facilitate closing the same after a cake has been cut and dispensed, to one of which latches a stop or abutment is secured which will be positioned under the loaf of meat at one end of the shield in closed position of this latch to support the loaf against accidently sliding downward when the shield is closed and which latch will cooperate with this abutment to clear the open end of the shield when the latch is swung into open position.

These and other features, capabilities and advantages of the present invention will appear from the subjoined detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective of a slicing machine equipped with the improved guide.

Fig. 2 is a perspective enlarged of the guide separated from the slicing machine.

Fig. 3 is an end View still further enlarged of the guide in closed position.

Claims. (01. 146-4217) Fig. 4 is a fragmental end View similar to Fig. 3 showing the guide inopen position.

In the embodiment shown the guide consists essentially in a sheet metal shield l preformed into an arc-uate shape which has an inner longitudinally extending edge 2 and an outer longitudinally extending edge 3 formed at the outer edge of the flange 4 offset to the main wall portion 5 by the shoulder B so that in open position the edges 2 and 3 will be spaced from one another. The outer face of the wall 5 has adjacent to its upper edge I l a sheet metal hook 7 extending downwardly and longitudinally of the shield l to grip the upper edge of the wing 23 of the chute 9 of a slicing machine H] such as disclosed in my United States Letters Patent No. 2,558,767, dated July 3, 1951. In addition to the hook l, the outer face of the wall 5 is also provided with a hook ll extending transversely in direction to the direction of the hook I and preferabl tangential to the wall 5 as particularly shown in Fig. 3 so that it may grip the laterally extending edge l2 of the wing [3 as shown in Fig. 1.

The lower edge M of the shield is: cut away to form the clearance I5 to enable the plate or abutment It to pass through the same so that its outer face will aline with the lower edge I 4 of the shield I, which edge I4 is disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shield I. The abutment IS in the present instance is bent at right angles to the arm I!) which extends parallel to the axis of the shield I and is connected at its upper end by being welded, soldered or otherwise secured to the wire loop 22 of the bracket 2'! of the latch 22 cooperating with the wire bracket 23 to form the latch 22. The bracket 2| preferably as shown has two extensions 24, 25 to form abutments or perches for the looped ends 25 and 21, respectively, of the bracket 23 which is substantially U-shaped with its cross piece 28 rotatably or hingedly disposed in the sleeve 29 of the plate 36 riveted or otherwise secured to the outer face of the wall. 5 adjacent the shoulder 6. From the two extensions 2 25, the wire of the bracket 2! extends away from the loop 20 to form the cross piece 3! rotatably or hingedly disposed in the sleeve 32 of the plate 33 secured to the outer face of the wall .5 adjacent the edge 2 thereof.

Preferably a second latch I22 substantially identical to the latch 22 is disposed adjacent the edge I"! of the shield I, which latch !22,, however, is not provided with an arm i9 and abutment E5.

The present guide is particularly adapted for use with gravity feed, slicing machines such as 3 the machine I illustrated in Fig. 1 in which the wings 8 and I3 of the chute 9 form a dihedral angle with one another and are disposed at an angle to the vertical but substantially perpendicular to the commodity support or gauge plate 34, the upper face of which lies in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the rotary knife 35 with a tray or platform 36 disposed beneath the gauge plate 34 to receive the slices or cakes of meat as they are out. With slicing machines of this kind, the loaf 31 may rely upon gravity to advance along the guide I into supporting engagement with the gauge plate 34 when the latches 22 and I 22 are open in the position shown in Fig. 4. In the operation of the machine, after the rotation of the knife 35 has been initiated, the meat is advanced to and from the knife 35 by the chute 9, the operator conventionally engaging the handle 43 when actuating the chute 9 to and from the knife 35 while gravity will be relied upon ordinarily to enable the loaf 31 to drop down into engagement with the gauge plate 34 as each succeeding cake has been cut and dispensed below the gauge plate 34 onto the tray 36.

Preferably the guide I is composed of a spring steel. Excellent results have been achieved when the guide I is composed of stainless steel, although obviously any number of flexible materials may be used without departing from the general spirit of the invention, such for instance as anodized aluminum, nickel plated brass, nickel plated copper, or even a flexible sheet of a plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride, conventionally known as Vinylite, and the like. The composition of the hooks I, II, abutment I6 and plates 30 and 33 may be composed of the same material as the Wall of the guide I and the latches 22 and I22 in turn of any suitable wire having a diameter of about of an inch.

In the use of these guides, preferably a sheet of wax paper 38 is first fitted in the guide I where its longitudinal edges will overlap and its ends extend beyond the ends I4 and ll of the wall 5. Thereupon the end of the paper 38 extending beyond the edge I4 will first be folded into a base such as shown in copending application for patent Ser. No. 223,631 aforesaid, transversely of and at right angles to the cylinder formed by the guide I when closed as shown in Fig. 2. Thereupon the chopped meat is packed into the guide I within the wax paper envelop 3B and thereupon the other end extending beyond the edge II will be folded to extend transversely of and at right angles to the guide I when closed. Thereupon the loaf 31 of chopped meat may be stored in a refrigerator or the like until the restaurant attendant is ready to dispense one or more orders. When preparing an order by cutting a cake of meat for cooking, such as frying, broiling or grilling a hamburger, the gauge plate 34 will be set a predetermined gauge or thickness by the knob 39 to enable the knife 35 to cut a conventional uniform thickness of chopped meat. Thereupon the loaded guide I will be attached to the chute 9 by securing the hook I to the upper edge of the wing 8 and the hook II onto the lateral edge I2 of the wing I3. The latches 22 and I22 will then be opened to permit the shield I to expand into the open position shown in Fig. 4 when the loaf 31 with its envelop 38 will be liberated from the guide I and be permitted by gravity under its own momentum to descend down through the guide I into cutting engagement with the knife 35. The paper envelop 38 need not be removed at this time since the knife 35 will cut the enclosing portion of paper 38 with each cake and the attendant can then remove the cut section of paper 38 from the cake after 1t has been out.

When the order or orders required have been out, the latches 22 and I22 may again be closed to close the shield I into its contracted position, and the guide I then removed and again stored away in the refrigerator or the like until the attendant is required to prepare another order. With the present invention a plurality of cakes of meat of a predetermined thickness may with facility be expeditiously out not only to save cons derable time in the cutting but also to save the time and care otherwise required to prepare the cake of the required shape and thickness.

The value of the protective paper, particularly a wax paper such as the paper 33, resides in the fact that when the latches 22 and I22 are opened to release the paper packed loaf 3?, this loaf 31 so wrapped by the paper 33 will freely shde down by gravity under its own momentum, whereas if the loaf 3'! were not wrapped in paper, the meat might cling to the metal shield I, depending upon the nature of the meat and its temperature.

With the present improvement, as com ared tothe disclosure in the aforesaid copending appllcatlon Ser. No. 223,631, it W111 be seen that should the latches 22 and I22 as an instance not lock the loaf 3'I securely in the guide I, there can be no danger of the loaf sliding out beyond the edge I4 even if the guide I were held upright with the edge IT at the upper end and that the particles of meat will cling to one another sufficiently to prevent slippage of the loaf 31 so long as a goodly portion of the same is engaged as would be the case by the plate I6. Still furthermore, for some purposes it is desirable not to pack the meat too tightly in the guide I, and consequently the latches 22 and I 22 will not cause the guide I to anchor the loaf 31 against slippage without some assistance, such as by the plate I5. On the other hand, when the latches 22 and I22 are opened, and the loaf is intended to slide down by gravity, then the plate It must be quickly and expeditiously removed in the interest of efliciency. By securing the plate It through its arm I9 to the bracket 2| of the latch 22, the outward movement of the bracket 2! into open position will simultaneously swing with it the arm l9 and plate I6 out of the path of movement of the loaf 31.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made to the details of construction without departing from the general spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a guide for feeding a loaf of chopped food by gravity to the knife of a slicing machine in which the commodity chute has wings extending upwardly from a platformthe combination of a flexible shield, arcuate in form with its 1011- gitudinally extending edges spaced from, and adjacent to, one another in open position and overlapping in closed position to conform substantially to a cylinder, devices on the outer face of said shield connecting the shield to the edges of the wings of the chute with the lower open end resting on the platform of the chute, interlocking latches on the outer face of, and adjacent to, the longitudinally extending edges of the shield operable in one position to secure the shield in closed position and in another position to maintain the shield in open position, and an abutment secured to said latches, said abutment extending across the lower end of the shield in the path of movement of the loaf being fed down the guide when the shield is in closed position and. swung clear of the lower end of the shield when the shield is in open position.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the lower edge of the shield has a recess formed therein to enable the abutment to move into and out of position to obstruct the lower end of the shield.

3.The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said interlocking latches are disposed adjacent to the lower end of the shield, and a second set of interlocking latches supplements the first mentioned set of latches and are disposed adjacent the upper end of the shield.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which each of said interlocking latches consists of two looped wires, one connected adjacent one longitudinal edge of the shield and the other connected adjacent the other longitudinal edge of the shield.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the shield is composed of stainless spring steel.

ARNOLD W. LUN DELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 175,872 Parent Apr. 11, 1876 1,044,438 Briggs Nov, 12, 1912 1,139,550 McCracken May 18, 1915 2,235,509 Waage Mar. 18, 1941 2,275,524 Cronich Mar. 10, 1942 2,312,530 Eklund Mar. 2, 1943 2,611,250 Rodacker Sept. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 523,927 Great Britain July 25, 1940 

